HOPES are running high that Otley is about to get a £1 million cash boost.

On Saturday, the town will find out whether it has been chosen to benefit from the Market Towns Initiative.

And if successful, it will find itself rocketed into the national spotlight as one of the first to take part in the pioneering project aimed at restoring the life back into areas suffering from economic decline.

The joint Yorkshire Forward and Countryside Agency initiative aims to hand out £6 million to six towns over the next three years.

And the market towns chosen - of which Otley is believed to be a front runner - will be held up as guinea pigs for the rest of the country.

Leeds City Council's Ian Mackay, co-ordinator of the Otley Town Centre Action Plan, said all indications were that Otley was in with a very good chance of getting the money.

But he added that even if it was unsuccessful this time there would be another two rounds of funding announced in the next two years.

"The feeling is that Otley is certainly one of the forerunners, but even if it is not selected this time, it may be in for a second chance the next time around, " he said.

Mr Mackay added that the project was the first of its kind and would be held up as a example for similar projects all over the country.

"Whichever towns are selected, they will find themselves very much in the spotlight. A year down the line there could be articles in national newspapers on Otley saying what's been happening and how things are doing.

"The level of scrutiny will make people sit up and listen and get things done."

The money, which will be used to improve conditions for not just the town centre but also surrounding villages could be poured into boosting employment opportunities or improving public transport - or the setting up of a town centre manager.

Paul Johnston, from Yorkshire Forward, said each town would receive £350,000 from Yorkshire Forward and the Countryside Agency with a further £600,000 expected in matched funding and grants.

Yorkshire Forward and the Countryside Agency will work with the chosen towns over the next few years coming up with schemes most likely to benefit the communities.

"Different market towns will try different things and as long as a town succeeds, it will get benefits."

He said the organisations were at present backing the employment of a town centre manager in Malton.

"Malton is probably the smallest town in the country with a town centre manager, they are only three months into the project so we don't know yet how its gone, but that is the kind of thing."

l The six towns chosen to take part in the initiative will be announced at noon on Saturday at the Halifax Show.